Pop-larville found out Thursday morning that it had moved up one spot from third to second in the overall state-wide fast-pitch softball poll conducted by The Clarion-Ledger.

Thursday afternoon, the Lady Hornets nearly celebrated their lofty status with what would have been their biggest win of the year so far.

Poplarville hosted fourth ranked and Division 8-4A leading Long Beach, and led the Lady Bearcats 1-0 with one out in the top of the sixth inning when the game was stopped because of stormy weather.

While the umpires ruled the game complete, a report must be made to the Mississippi High School Activities Association and ruling handed down by that governing body on whether or not the game has to be finished because it is a district contest.

Poplarville head coach Jonathan Ray said he expected to hear from the MHSAA sometime on Friday, and he also expected that the game would have to be completed at some point because of the tightly bunched division race that has Poplarville and D’Iberville with one league loss and Long Beach with none as of yet.

“I think we will have to finish it, because Long Beach had a similar situation against Bay High last year and them MHSAA ruled that they had to complete the game,” Ray said.

Only to of the three teams will qualify for the state Class 4A playoffs, which are set to begin next week. Also, Long Beach and Poplarville are set to play Saturday in another league game in Long Beach.

“If they rule we have to finish the game, it has to be finished here in Poplarville,” Ray added. “We just have to figure out when and consider the weather.”

Poplarville is also slated to meet Bay High Saturday afternoon after the Long Beach game and then host D’Iberville Tuesday. D’Iberville, the top ranked team in the state, is the only team to beat the Lady Hornets so far but Long Beach beat D’Iberville 1-0 last week.

Chelsea Theriot had just given Poplarville its 1-0 lead minutes before the inclement weather hit, as she led off the bottom of the fifth with a double down the right field line and then scored two outs later on a safety squeeze by Monica Davis.

Then, as the Lady Hornets took the field in the sixth, Poplarville pitcher Megan Ladner got one out before the officials called a halt to the proceedings.